FDD drive or floppy drive - what is this thing? FDD signals and pins? Power supply for FDD drive? Cooling computer components

To connect IDE devices on motherboards manufactured before 2005, there were two 40-pin connectors ( rice. 13.32). Just below is a 34-pin connector for connecting an FDD drive.

On all modern motherboards, the connectors have a plastic cage with a U-shaped cutout, which is an installation key. On older model motherboards, these connectors did not have a plastic cage, which often led to incorrect connection of the connectors.

These 40-pin connectors are called IDEIh IDE2. The hard drive should be connected to the IDE1 connector. A CD or DVD drive is usually connected to the second IDE2 connector.

On almost all more or less new motherboards, the IDE1 port is blue (it is dark in Fig. 13.32).

If the ports do not differ in color, then the motherboard must be marked: IDE1, IDE2.

For all IDE hard drives, it is recommended to use an 80-conductor UDMA cable. Such a loop of signal wires is equal to 40, but each is separated from the adjacent one by an additional wire, which has zero potential and is connected to the PC case to avoid interference. It is possible to use a 40-wire cable, but the hard drive with such a connection will not operate at maximum speed.

Rice. 13.32. Connectors for connecting IDE devices and FDD drives

The cables are always painted in such a way as to highlight the first connector socket. In 40-core loops it is usually highlighted in red (or red dotted).

80-wire cables can be painted in any color, but the first wire will always be a different color. In addition, the 80-core cables have multi-colored terminals: the first terminal is blue, the second is black and the third is gray.

There is more distance between the blue and black pads than between the black and gray pads. The 40-wire cable is designed similarly, but all the pads on it are black.

The cable is always connected to the connector on the motherboard with the long end or the blue block. The Master device is connected with a black block, and the Slave device with a gray one.

On the system board, near the connectors, there is a key cutout that prevents the cable from being connected by mistake. All drives have the same cutout. Some models have a double-sided cutout.

In this case, you just need to remember that the first pin of the connector is located next to the power connector of the hard drive (the same applies to CD and DVD drives).

Motherboards have a special IDE connector without a central pin. For such boards, special 80-core cables with connectors without a central socket are also produced. If the motherboard has a connector with all contacts, but the cable connector does not have a central one, you can use an ordinary awl or a thick needle to make a hole in the desired location of the connector.

Until recently, keys were not on all cables, and therefore they could be connected incorrectly. This primarily applies to 40-core loops. If you connect a hard drive (CD drive) with an inverted cable, the device will not work, but this will not harm the system board or device.

If you are using a cable without a key, then you should carefully examine the markings on the motherboard next to the connector - the number 1 must be marked near the first needle of the connector.

The CD drive is connected in the same way as a hard drive. This applies to all devices - CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD. To increase computer performance, it is advisable to connect the hard drive and CD drive to different IDE interface controllers.

If you use two optical drives, for example CD-RW and DVD, it is advisable to install them on one cable connected to IDE2. One device is set to Master mode, the other to Slave. Moreover, it is advisable to set the recorder drive to Master mode.

If the system uses two hard drives and one CD drive, then the first (main) hard drive is connected with one cable to the first controller (IDE1) on the motherboard and the Master mode is set on the hard drive. The second hard drive is connected using the same cable, but it is set to Slave mode.

The CD drive is connected with a second cable to the second IDE2 controller on the motherboard and installed in the Master position. It turns out that the first controller has two hard drives, and the second has only a CD drive.

It is not advisable to install a hard drive and a CD drive on the same cable, since if one of the devices supports a faster data transfer mode than the other, communication with both devices will be carried out in the slowest supported mode. For example, if you connect a hard drive that supports ATA-100 and a CD-ROM that only supports ATA-33 mode to one cable, the operation of the hard drive may be slow.

In Fig. Figure 13.33 shows the installation of a jumper for connecting a CD drive in Master mode. To the left of it there is an additional connector for connecting an analog audio cable, which connects to the sound card for listening to audio CDs.

Rice. 13.33. CD drive connectors

This cable has been around since the advent of CD drives, when these devices were used mainly for listening to audio discs ( rice. 13.34).

Rice. 13.34. Analog audio cable for connecting a CD drive

The existing digital MP3 format does not require connecting this cable, but to listen to audio CDs it must be connected to the corresponding connector on the motherboard or sound card. The audio cable connector has a specific shape and it is impossible to connect it incorrectly ( rice. 13.35).

Power is connected to IDE devices via a standard 4-pin connector ( rice. 13.36). To avoid erroneous connections, the connector has a special key - one of the connector planes has special bevels on each side. Similar bevels are present on the power connectors of the IDE device.

It should be noted that modern motherboards are available with only one IDE connector, since with the introduction of the SATA interface the need for it is gradually disappearing. Currently, IDE hard drives are being discontinued and DVD drives are gradually switching to the SATA interface. But, since the market will be saturated with devices with an IDE interface for quite some time, this fact cannot be discounted.

Rice. 13.35. Connectors for connecting a CD drive

Rice. 13.36. IDE power connectors

To connect the FDD drive, a 34-wire cable is used, which is connected to the corresponding connector on the motherboard. In Fig. 13.32 it is located below the IDE connectors.

The cable is connected to the motherboard in the same way as an IDE device cable. When connecting the cable to the drive, you should pay attention that the first contact of the FDD drive is located not closer to the power connector, as on IDE devices, but on the opposite side ( rice. 13.37).

The FDD drive cable has two connectors. And on the first one there is a noticeable “overlap” of a small part of the train. When a drive is connected to the “twisted” end, it is perceived by the system as drive A, and to the second end as drive B. We remind you that there are also magneto-optical drives that are connected with the same 34-pin cable.

If the cable is connected incorrectly, the green LED on the drive will be constantly lit and the device will not work. In this case, the cable must be turned 180°.

Rice. 13.37. Connecting an FDD drive

Above the interface connector is a 4-pin power connector. In Fig. 13.38 shows the connector for connecting it.

The connector has a key, but when connecting the drive you need to be especially careful, since there is a possibility of connecting it incorrectly, especially if these actions are performed “blindly”. In this case, a common mistake is to shift the connector when connecting to one side or the other. Such an error can lead to fatal consequences - the disk drive or even the power supply may burn out.

Motherboards that support the Serial ATA (SATA) interface have additional connectors for the SATA interface ( rice. 13.39).

Rice. 13.38. Connector for power supply of FDD drive

Rice. 13.39. SATA interface connectors

Only one device can be connected to each connector. As mentioned above, hard drives with a SATA interface do not have jumpers to determine operating modes.

The appearance of the SATA interface cable is shown in Fig. 13.40.

A separate 4-pin ATX 12V connector is responsible for supplying power to the processor (in Fig. 13.42, right).

At first, this connector was called P4, since it was used to supply power only to Pentium 4 processors. But later it was adapted for motherboards with AMD processors. Then an 8-pin connector appeared to supply power to even more powerful Pentium-D and Pentium 4 processors based on the Prescott core.

But today, AMD and Intel processors have enough capabilities of a 4-pin interface ( rice. 13.43). Most motherboards with an 8-pin socket will work with both 8-pin and 4-pin plugs since the connectors are compatible with each other.
Connecting power to the system board

Rice. 13.42. Motherboard power connectors

Rice. 13.43. ATX 12V connectors

If the PC power supply does not have a 4-pin connector for powering the processor, then power can be supplied from a standard power connector designed for IDE devices. There are motherboards that have both power connector options to supply 12V to the processor.

In Fig. Figure 13.44 shows this type of connector layout.

The latest modification of the ATX standard provides 24-pin plugs, which were previously found on server power supplies.

The main reason for the introduction of 24-pin connectors was the increase in current supplied to PCI-Express slots compared to older standards. Although a 20-pin connection is sufficient to power most modern cards, the developers provide for further development of the standard and, therefore, the possibility of increasing power.

Rice. 13.44. Two connector options for power supply to the CPU

Most motherboards do not require all 24 pins to be connected. In Fig. Figure 13.45 shows how a 20-pin plug is connected to a 24-pin connector.

The wide hook on the motherboard connector allows you to connect both 20- and 24-pin plugs.

Rice. 13.45. Connecting a 20-pin male to a 24-pin connector

It should be noted that the remaining 4 free contacts must under no circumstances be used to connect the 4-pin processor power connector! The wiring of the remaining free pins does not correspond to the 4-pin processor socket.

If you have already purchased a powerful power supply with a 24-pin connector, then to supply power to the old motherboard you need to use an adapter from 24 to 20 pins. In Fig.

Figure 13.46 shows the appearance of such an adapter, and Fig. 13.47 - adapter installed in the system board.

The installation of power connectors is secured with a special latch ( rice. 13.45 and fig. 13.47). After the connector is inserted into the socket all the way, you should hear a click, indicating that the connector is locked in the socket.

Rice. 13.46. Power adapter 24/20 ATX

Rice. 13.47. Connecting power via a 24/20 ATX adapter

Hello, friends.

Today we will discuss the ancient piece of iron :-) and dive a little into history.

Many of you have seen or even have a second drive in your old computer.

Usually it is located just below the middle of the system unit. The purpose of the device is to read and write floppy disks.

Despite the fact that many other storage media have now appeared, floppy disks can still come in handy sometimes (for example, for flashing the BIOS). But there is no place for them in a modern computer.

In this article I will tell you in more detail what an FDD drive is and how to connect it to a new computer.

I suggest that you first understand what an FDD drive is.

In English, the abbreviation stands for Floppy Disk Drive, which means a floppy disk drive. Like the optical drive we are used to, this device reads and writes information. But it only works not with optical disks, but with floppy magnetic disks.

It has 2 motors: one is responsible for the rotation speed of the drive, the other moves the read and write head. How fast the first engine runs depends on the performance of the floppy disk: they vary between 300-360 rpm.

The second engine is stepper, and moves the heads at discrete intervals along a radial path from the edge to the middle. Unlike modern drive heads, these move not over the floppy, but along it.

The principle of operation of the device, when it records data, is similar to a tape recorder, that is, the head is in contact with a magnet. The only difference is that the drive writes without high-frequency bias. It remagnetizes the material.

First floppy

The first company to produce floppy disk drives was IBM.

The start was given in the late 1960s by Alan Shugart, who at this company was the leader of the disk drive development group.

The first such devices were 8 inches in size. In 1969, Shugart left this company, followed by more than 100 employees.

Seven years later, at his own company, Shugart Associates, he developed a miniature 5.25-inch disk drive, which was the standard for computers.

Sony found these dimensions too large, and in 1983 it released 3.5-inch drives. The first company that dared to install them in its computers only a year later was Hewlett-Packard. At the same time, Apple “tried” them, and 2 years later - Apple.

The first 5.25-inch drives had a flexible casing that looked like an envelope. You could easily bend them with your hands. This drawback was eliminated in 3.5-inch floppy units, equipped with a plastic housing and, in addition, a special metal shutter protecting the slot for the read head.

Despite the reduction in size, the capacity of floppy disks has increased. The maximum capacity of the 5.25-inch version was 1.2 MB, and the standard 3.5-inch was 1.44 MB.

Another difference: to insert large floppy disks into the drive, you needed to turn the lever to lock it, while smaller disks slid into the slot automatically.

Methods for connecting floppy drives

The FDD interface that interfaces with IBM products is the SA-400 (Shugart Associates). Its controller is connected by a 34-pin cable. Devices with a 5.25-inch form factor are equipped with a printed connector. Are you interested in connecting 3.5 inch drives? Then you will be dealing with a simple male connector.

To connect different drives, you can use a combination cable with four interfaces arranged in pairs. When connecting, keep in mind that the order of the drive (A: or B:) in the BIOS is determined by its location on the cable.

Since current computer models are not designed to use floppy disks, they do not have devices for them. Do you really need information from a floppy disk?

There is a solution - a usb floppy drive.

As you guessed, it connects via a USB port. The advantage is not only the ability to connect with any modern computer, but also the fact that you can take an external drive with you anywhere.

Why did floppy drives fall out of use?

You probably guessed that FDDs are no longer used due to the advent of newer technologies. Firstly, the volume of floppy disks is extremely small compared to modern drives. Secondly, their data transfer speed also leaves much to be desired.

But there are also less obvious reasons. One of them is the fragility of floppy disks. They quickly demagnetized when interacting (even not very closely) with metal objects. For example, you could travel with a floppy disk on a tram, metro or trolleybus and lose all the information.

Another reason is the vulnerability of the floppy disk design. The edges of the case, even made of tin or plastic, could bend. Because of this, the disc sometimes got stuck in the drive hole. Moreover, plastic is an unreliable material and can break easily.

Consequently, due to the many disadvantages of disks, the need for floppy drives has disappeared.

Despite their decline from widespread use, floppy disks, and, accordingly, devices for them, are still in use. In our country, not all organizations have switched to the new type of technical equipment, so in industrial, medical, and measuring enterprises you can still find floppy drives. They are also still used in the music industry.

But such a drive may also be useful for you at home, of course, if you are the owner of old hardware. You can use it to boot the operating system or run self-booting diagnostic tools. After all, early versions of operating systems do not allow this to be done from optical disks.

Maybe you want to find outdated information in the archives? Then you will probably also need a floppy drive.

Basically, that's all you need to know about the fdd drive.

Visit my blog more often and tell your friends about it on social networks.

Goodbye friends!

To interface the drive with the controller, the SA-400 interface is used. They are connected using a 34-wire cable, in which the even wires are signal, and the odd wires are common. The general version of the interface provides for connecting up to four drives to the controller, the version for the IBM PC - up to two. In general, the drives are connected completely in parallel to each other, and the drive number (0..3) is set by jumpers on the electronics board; in the version for the IBM PC, both drives are numbered 1, but are connected using a cable in which the selection signals (wires 10-16) are reversed between the connectors of the two drives. Sometimes pin 6 is removed from the drive connector, which in this case plays the role of a mechanical key.

Data via the interface is transmitted in serial code in both directions (via different wires). The data transfer rate for 1.44 MB floppy disks is 500 Kbps. Like the hard drive controller, the floppy drive controller in modern computers is installed on the system board (special expansion cards were produced for older computer models).

The drive interface is quite simple and includes signals for selecting a device (four devices in the general case, two for the IBM PC), starting the engine, moving the heads one step, enabling recording, read/write data, as well as information signals from the drive - start tracks, a sign that the heads are installed on the zero (external) track, signals from sensors, etc. All work on encoding information, searching for tracks and sectors, synchronization, and error correction is performed by the controller.

The standard HD (High Density) floppy disk format is 80 tracks on each side, 18 sectors of 512 bytes per track. Compacted format - 82 or 84 tracks, up to 20 sectors of 512 bytes, or up to 11 sectors of 1024 bytes.

Connection:

There are two connectors for connecting the drive: one for electrical power, and the other for transmitting data and control signals. These connectors are standardized in the computer industry: a four-pin Mate-N-Lock linear connector from AMP in large and small sizes is used for power connections, and 34-pin connectors are used for signal connections. 5¼" drives typically use a large connector for power, while most 3½" drives use a smaller connector for power.

The “strange thing” of the signal cable is that lines 10-16 are cut and rearranged (twisted) between the drive connectors. This twisting reverses the first and second positions of the drive select jumper and the engine enable signals, and therefore reverses the “DS” signal settings for the drive located behind the twisting. Accordingly, all drives in a computer with this type of cable have jumpers installed in the same way, and the setup and installation of drives (instead of the first and second, they are designated in the system as A and B) is simplified. As a rule, the motherboard contains an integrated drive controller (as well as a separate controller board that existed in the past), allowing for the installation of a pair of drives.

When connecting cables, you must take into account their orientation; if the signal cable is connected incorrectly, the light on the front panel of the drive will light up immediately after power is applied. If the power cable is incorrectly oriented, 12 V power is supplied to the electronic drive control circuit instead of 5 V, which is guaranteed to lead to its failure. Considering that the cost of repairing a piece board exceeds the wholesale cost of the drive itself, repairing the drive is usually not economically feasible.

Electrical connection of drives

Interface for connecting a 3½″ floppy drive: small-sized power connector and connector for connecting a 34-pin signal cable.

Cables: power on the left, signal on the right.

“Strange” signal cable with twist.

The pads for connecting 5¼″ (left in the photo) and 3½″ (right) drives are different. To connect a 3½″ drive to a 5¼″ drive on a cable, a special adapter could be used.

Controller programming:

The floppy disk controller, from the perspective of modern programming, looks quite primitive - the registers, which have a byte organization, are combined into a block of eight sequentially located cells (only some of them are actually used).

Address	Designation	Read/Write	Purpose
3F0 16	-	-	Not used
3F1 16	-	-	Not used
3F2 16	DOR	Read/Write	Digital Output Register
3F3 16	TSR	Read/Write	Tape Drive Register
3F4 16	MSR	Reading	Main status register
3F4 16	DSR	Record	Baud Rate Select Register
3F5 16	FIFO	Read/Write	Data Buffer Register
3F6 16	-	-	Not used
3F7 16	DIR	Reading	Digital input register
3F7 16	CCR	Record	Configuration Management Register

Practical work No. 7

The computer motherboard is equipped with a huge, by the standards of inexperienced users, number of connectors. They are located like inside system unit, and on rear panel computer. The connectors on the front are often duplicate rear with some exceptions.

It is worth noting that the ports of a laptop are practically no different from a computer; we will also consider them below.

A large square with many holes in the center of the motherboard serves for connection processor. From above, after connecting the CPU is installed fan cooling.

It is worth noting that for each type of such connector there is its own list of supported processors. Therefore, when purchasing a CPU, you should pay attention to socket, otherwise the new acquisition simply will not fit into this slot.

CPU connector

Installing a video card

Below, under the processor you can see a number of slots of different lengths. These are the connectors PCIexpress. Previously, there was a connector in this part of the board AGP, but it is morally outdated and is now practically not used.

PCIExpress Today it is divided into x1, x4, x16. The video card is inserted into PCIExpressx16, the rest are now used quite rarely, but, nevertheless, are present on many models of motherboards. They install additional cards, such as sound, network, etc.

Video card connectors

RAM

On the right side there are several long connectors into which you can install operational p amyat. Currently, RAM is divided into DDR1, DDR2, DDR3. DDR 1 and 2 are obsolete and are not used on new computers. It is also worth noting that these connectors are not compatible with each other. Those. DDR3 cannot be installed in DDR2 and vice versa.

It is worth paying attention to colors slots - this is how channels are allocated. Therefore, several RAM sticks are not installed in a row, but based on these colors.

RAM slots

HDD

To connect this device use the interface SATA. They are located on the right side of the board. Today there are three versions: SATA 1.0, SATA 2.0, SATA 3.0. They are compatible with each other and differ only the data transfer speed.

SATA interfaces

Interfaces IDE And FDD are rare. Old hard drive models worked according to IDE, and the floppy drive through FDD. Currently practically not used.

IDE connectors

Power connection

There are two connectors on the motherboard for mandatory power connections. The first of them is located near the RAM and contains 20 or 24 contact. If power is not connected to it, the board will not work.

Motherboard power

In addition, next to the processor 4 or 6 pin port for power connection processor. Without it, the computer will also not work.

CPU power

Cooling computer components

Without cooling, the computer will not be able to work for a long time. Therefore, there are several special connectors on the board where you can connect coolers. One of them is designed for connecting processor cooling, and the rest are for regular fans.

Rear panel of the system unit

If you look at the back of the motherboard, you can see many ports for peripheral devices

PS/2

Used to connect mice And keyboards. Outdated and rarely used. Many new boards do not come with them.

PS/2 connector

COM and LPT

LPT is a parallel port, and COM– consistent. Nowadays they are used very rarely, and it is almost impossible to see them on new board models. At one time they were used for connections peripheral devices that are currently used USB.

Com port

USB ports

The most popular ports through which you can connect almost everything. They vary in speed. Currently in use USB 2.0 And USB 3.0. They can be distinguished by color: Blue– USB 3.0, and black– 2.0. They differ in speed and are compatible with each other.

USB connectors

Network usage

There is a port located near the USB Ethernet to connect to the network. For connection use cables crimped with connectors RJ-45.

Ethernet connector

Audio connectors

All motherboards are equipped with an input for connecting speakers And microphone. Depending on the motherboard, their number varies from 3 to 6. Sometimes it is difficult for the user to figure out what and where to connect. There is a standard for this color scheme(In the driver settings, in some cases, ports can be reassigned):

Video connectors

There may be several of them, and they can be located as follows: motherboard, and on video card. Used to connect a monitor or other similar devices.

The most common is analog output VGA– for connecting older monitors.

VGA Connector

Digital output is now widespread DVI, but it is also gradually giving way to the connector HDMI.

DVI connector

HDMI– used on almost all modern monitors and video cards. Transmits a signal high definition(FullHD 1920x1080), and can transmit both video and audio over one cable.

HDMI connection

Worth mentioning DisplayPort, which is gradually gaining popularity. It's identical HDMI, but using it in production is much cheaper. In addition, a port appeared on the market Thunderbolt, which replaced DisplayPort. They look the same and are fully compatible, but Thunderbolt has a higher data transfer speed, which allows it to display a picture with resolution 5K or 4K on two monitors.

Thunderbolt connector

Other connectors

Occasionally, system units are equipped card readers, which allow you to read information from memory cards. It is located on the front panel.

Card reader

Another rare port is IEEE 1394, which is also called FireWire. Used to connect digital devices such as photos and video cameras. Less commonly, other peripheral devices are connected through it - printers, scanners, disks, etc.

Laptop connectors

Laptops have significantly fewer external ports than computers. This is due to their design. There are few differences, so we’ll just list the ports, and their descriptions can be found above.

• VGA, DVI or HDMI for monitor
• USB for corresponding devices
• IEEE1394 for photo or video camera. Very rare on top models.
• Card reader found on almost all laptops. Used to read memory cards.
• COM And LPT- are very rare. New models are practically not equipped with them.

The following ports are found only on laptops:

Despite the enormous popularity of flash drives, optical discs are still in use. Therefore, motherboard manufacturers still provide support for CD/DVD drives. Today we want to tell you how to connect them to the motherboard.

How to connect a floppy drive

Connecting an optical drive is done as follows.

1. Disconnect the computer, and therefore the motherboard, from the electrical outlet.
2. Remove both side covers of the system unit to gain access to the motherboard.
3. As a rule, before connecting to the motherboard, the drive will need to be installed in the appropriate compartment in the system unit. Its approximate location is shown in the image below.

   

   Install the drive with the tray facing outwards and secure it with screws or a latch (depending on the system unit).

4. Next, the most important point is the connection to the board. In the article about motherboard connectors, we briefly touched on the main ports for connecting memory devices. These are IDE (outdated, but still in use) and SATA (the most modern and widespread). To determine what type of drive you have, look at the connection cord. This is what a SATA cable looks like:

   

   And here it is for IDE:

   

   By the way, floppy disk drives (magnetic diskettes) are connected only via the IDE port.

5. Connect the drive to the corresponding connector on the board. In the case of SATA it looks like this:

   In the case of IDE - like this:

   Then you should connect the power cable to the power supply. In a SATA connector this is a wider part of the common cord, in an IDE connector it is a separate block of wires.



6. Check that you have connected the drive correctly, then replace the system unit covers and turn on the computer.
7. Most likely, your drive will not be immediately visible in the system. In order for the OS to recognize it correctly, the drive must be activated in the BIOS. The article below will help you with this.
8. Ready - the CD/DVD drive will be completely ready for use.

As you can see, nothing complicated - if necessary, you can repeat the procedure on any other motherboard.